The RAIN Alliance aims to drive the UHF RFID industry forward by building its members’ capacity on pressing topics that connect this technology with sustainability and circularity. To that end, the alliance has established the Sustainability & Circularity Community, which focuses on these topics.

The Community meets infrequently but has an active online presence on our Basecamp collaboration platform. If you would like to join the Sustainability & Circularity Community, contact operations@therainalliance.org.

Within the community, a number of working groups have been established to produce specific deliverables. The Sustainability Workgroups identify, develop, and publish materials relating to the issues surrounding sustainability and the use of RAIN. Each Working Group has its own leadership and defines its working cadence.

CURRENT WORKGROUPS/TIGER TEAMS

Digital Product Passport (DPP): Workgroup Leader Femke Zijlstra, Avery Dennison

Level of dedication (measured in working hours): high (from 1hr to 2hrs /week until deliverables are complete)
Responsible for:
- Producing educational material, including a position paper and FAQ document, related to the emerging EU Digital Product Passport legislation. The goal is to arm RAIN Alliance members with sufficient accurate and agreed material to collectively lobby the appropriate authorities and to be prepared to capitalize on the opportunity we expect DPP legislation to bring to the RAIN community.
- See the Digital Product Passport FAQs
Meeting cadence: Every 3 weeks

To join, contact operations@therainalliance.org.

E-waste: Workgroup Leader Joan Miro, Trace ID

Level of dedication (measured in working hours): high (from 1hr to 2hrs /week until deliverables are complete)
Responsible for: Defining, delivering, and deploying strategy (OKRs)
Meeting cadence: biweekly

To join, contact operations@therainalliance.org.

Plastics Packaging Tiger Team: Team Leaders Megan Brewster, Impinj, and Ray Freeman, Paragon ID
Numerous retailers deploying RAIN have adopted this U.S. Plastics Pact goal: 100% of plastic packaging will be reusable, recyclable, or compostable by 2025.

Responsible for:
- Prioritizing plastic packaging waste streams and identifying hurdles in their current reclaimer/recycling processes
- Defining vendor-neutral guidelines to ensure that RAIN tags/inlays enable plastic packaging recycling
- Determining and commissioning any testing necessary to determine the above guidelines
Meeting cadence: 1.5 hours every 2 weeks

The PPTT will initially focus on the U.S. market, with the aim to develop engagement plans for other priority geographies.

To join, contact operations@therainalliance.org.

Resources

Presentations from RAIN Member Meetings (members only access)

Blog posts

Leader:
Barbara Dunin, Beontag
Participants:
RAIN Alliance members interested in Sustainability
Level of dedication (measured in working hours):
low

Responsible for:

Receiving information and providing inputs on the work being done through the workgroups.
Participating in consultations.
Sharing information about sustainability and circularity topics.
Promoting RAIN Alliance content and messages linked to sustainability and circularity.
Suggesting new WG activities.

Meetings’ cadence:
bimonthly calls + presential meetings during RAIN events.
With respect to the sustainability initiatives with specific deliverables (studies, position papers, etc), they are driven by workgroups and special taskforces.